that which we are, we are
by splendidlyimperfect
Summary: Gray is in love with life, and with Natsu. All they need is their farm, each other, old songs on the radio, and a tiny, furry addition to their family. / A series of short drabbles set after "tho much is taken, much abides."
1. Chapter 1

Gray woke to soft morning sun and a warm hand on his stomach.

"Hey, handsome," he murmured, turning onto his back and pressing a kiss to Natsu's forehead. Natsu curled up closer to him, sighing happily and shifting so his head was pressed against Gray's chest. His hair tickled Gray's nose and Gray ran his fingers through it, trying to tame the tangled mess.

A warm beam of sunshine spilled through the open window, dust motes dancing through the light as it spread across the bedspread. The window was open, propped up with one of the smooth rocks that Natsu had found in the river, and Gray could hear the chickens squabbling with each other in their coop.

"Your rooster is terrible at telling time," he said, turning back to Natsu, who snorted, slipping his hand under Gray's shirt and drifting his fingers across Gray's chest.

"'s a myth," he said, yawning.

"What is?"

"That they only crow in the morning." Natsu tipped his head up and gave Gray a smile that creased the corners of his eyes. "And it means we get to sleep in. I'm not complaining."

"Mm." Gray ran his thumb across Natsu's cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. "You hungry?"

"Always."

Natsu stretched, fingers tightening around Gray's hip, then he rolled onto his back and sat up. The sun filtered through his hair, giving him a golden glow that highlighted the freckles spilling across his shoulders.

"What?" he asked, tipping his head at Gray as he reached over to grab a shirt from the pile on the floor.

Gray shook his head, leaning over and kissing Natsu's stomach before pushing himself out of bed. "I'm just lucky, that's all. Now go get me some eggs and I'll make omelets."

* * *

Gray turned on the radio, nudging the dial until it picked up the closest channel and a soft, unfamiliar song filled the kitchen. He pushed the curtains aside, opening the window over the sink to let in the cool morning air, then grabbed the coffee pot and filled it with cold water. The screen door slammed shut behind Natsu as he left the house, and Gray watched him head across the yard toward the chicken coop.

"Grab some raspberries, too!" Gray shouted out the window. Natsu turned back and waved, blowing Gray a kiss before making a detour toward the garden.

The coffee maker started to hiss as Gray rummaged through the fridge. They were almost out of jam – hopefully they had enough rhubarb for him to make another batch before the end of the summer. He set the orange juice and butter out on the table and was about to light the stove when the screen door banged open again.

"Did Atilla try to peck you again?" Gray asked as Natsu kicked off his boots and made his way into the kitchen. He had something bundled in his arms, wrapped in an old blanket, and Gray frowned. "That's not eggs."

"Look," Natsu said softly. He pulled back the edge of the blanket to show Gray a little bundle of fur with a wet, pink nose.

"Is that…"

"It's a kitten," Natsu said, sitting down at the kitchen table and pulling the blanket back a little further. The kitten was tiny – barely the size of one of Gray's hands – and its eyes were still closed. "I found him in the shed, by the buckets."

"He's so small," Gray said, keeping his voice soft as he leaned in. Natsu ran his finger over the kitten's nose. "Was he alone? What about his mom?"

Natsu's face dropped and he shook his head. "He's the only one that was still alive." Gray made a sound of sympathy. "He can't be more than a couple days old, though. I was in there on Monday putting the gardening things away."

Gray reached out carefully and brushed his finger behind the kitten's ear. It tipped its head toward his hand, keeping its eyes closed.

"Here." Natsu shifted closer to Gray and passed him the bundle, tucking the blanket closer around the kitten. "We've gotta keep him warm. He's probably starving – I'll drive over to the feed place and see if they've got kitten formula."

"Kitten formula?"

"I mean, my mom used to make her own with evaporated milk and eggs, but that was thirty years ago. I don't think you're supposed to do that anymore."

Gray looked up at Natsu, whose face was creased by a fond smile. He didn't talk about his mom often, and Gray was suddenly struck by a mental image of Natsu as a child, sitting on his mother's lap and cuddling a kitten just like this.

The kitten made a soft, mewling sound, and Gray looked back down at it. "I think he's cold," he said. "Do we have another blanket?"

Natsu shook his head, reaching over and undoing the top button on Gray's shirt. Gray frowned, then realized what Natsu was doing. As soon as the shirt was halfway open, he gently lifted the kitten out of the blanket, tucking it under the fabric and against his skin.

"He likes you," Natsu said, brushing his finger against the kitten's head as it nuzzled against Gray's chest. Gray could feel its tiny heartbeat, fluttering against his chest like rain drumming the roof in a storm.

"We're keeping him," Gray said, pulling the blanket back up to cover his chest. He'd meant it as a question, but it came out as more of a declaration.

"Of course we are," Natsu said softly, kissing Gray's forehead and running a calloused hand over the kitten's head one more time. "I'll be back soon, okay? Keep him warm."

Gray nodded, lips curving up in a smile as the kitten burrowed further under his shirt, eyes still shut tight. He'd never had a pet before – never wanted one – but this tiny, purring bundle was suddenly the only thing he could think about.

"I will," he said softly as Natsu headed back down to the front door, grabbing the keys and closing the front door behind him. "We'll be just fine," Gray murmured to the kitten, stroking his finger over its ears. "Everything's going to be all right."


	2. Chapter 2

The drive to the feed shop took Natsu longer than he'd expected, and it was midafternoon by the time he got back home. The truck rolled to a stop outside the fence and he turned it off, hopping out and unlatching the gate to let himself into the yard.

He stopped for a second, taking a deep breath and looking around. The sun was bright, the brilliant blue sky a backdrop for their little house. Paint was flaking off the doorframe – Natsu would have to touch that up this weekend. Plus, he'd promised to pick all the wild saskatoon berries from behind the house so Gray could make pie.

A warmth swelled through Natsu's chest as he looked at their home. Five years ago, he'd been so lonely – living in a tiny apartment in the city, eating microwave dinners and watching movies by himself.

Then he'd listened to Lucy and taken that dance class, and fell unexpectedly in love. Natsu had never expected to find someone who could feel the same way about him, but now, living here with Gray...

Life was perfect.

Natsu was about to head into the house when he caught movement over in the garden. Gray's hair was just visible above the edge of the raspberry bushes, and Natsu made his way over, about to open the gate when he heard Gray singing.

A smile crept across Natsu's face and he slipped around the garden fence, hiding on the other side of the bushes from where Gray was picking berries. Gray hummed a few bars, then started singing the song that they had first danced to. He didn't know all the words, but he made up his own, and Natsu could see that he was dancing, swaying back and forth as he walked down the rows of bushes.

"You like that, huh?" Gray said when the song ended. Natsu started, but quickly realized that Gray wasn't talking to him. Gray was looking down at his chest, where Natsu assumed the kitten was still sleeping. "That's the song I was listening to when I fell in love, you know that?"

Natsu's heart did a funny twist at the words.

"I didn't know it, though," Gray continued, and Natsu watched him set down the full bucket, then reach down into his shirt to pet the kitten. "I was a bit of an idiot, but he was so patient with me. I think I'd forgotten what falling in love felt like."

He hummed a few lines of something else, moving down the row again as he grabbed an empty bucket to fill. Natsu sighed happily, slipping back around to the gate and then sneaking up behind Gray.

"I love you too," he said softly, wrapping his arms around Gray's waist and kissing his neck. Gray jumped, cheeks immediately turning pink as he brought a hand down to cover Natsu's. "You have a really nice voice, you know that?"

"You were listening?" Gray asked, looking flustered as he turned around.

"Mm." Natsu kissed his cheek, then leaned back to look at the kitten. Gray had turned his button-down shirt inside out, and the kitten was tucked in the chest pocket, wrapped safely against Gray's skin. Its eyes were still closed, but when Natsu ran a finger over its head, it turned its face toward his finger, nuzzling blindly.

"Looks like someone's hungry," Natsu said. "Let's take him inside and feed him."

* * *

Gray boiled water on the stove as Natsu settled down in one of the kitchen chairs, fiddling with the bottle that he'd gotten from the feed store. The kitten was curled up on its stomach on a heating pad they'd set on the table, surrounded by blankets to keep it from falling off.

"We're going to have to name it," Gray said. "Are we even sure it's a boy?"

Natsu shook his head, handing Gray the bottle full of formula to set in the water. "Rick said he's had barn cats before and he can check when it's a little bigger. Gilbert actually offered to take him; he said his daughter's been wanting a kitten. But I said someone had already fallen in love with him." He grinned at Gray.

Gray's cheeks flushed pink again and he looked away from Natsu, pulling the bottle out of the water and shaking some of the milk onto the inside of his wrist. He turned off the stove and sat down at the table, and when he brought the nipple of the bottle near the kitten, it tipped its head and opened its mouth.

"There you go, sweet thing," Gray murmured, running his finger over the top of the kitten's head as it started to eat. Natsu watched as Gray's face softened; eyes bright, lips curved up in a smile.

"Happy," Natsu said. "We should call him Happy."

"Why Happy?" Gray didn't take his eyes off the kitten, just kept petting its head with one finger while it drank.

"'cause that's how you look right now," Natsu said softly, leaning in and kissing Gray's cheek. "And I love the way you smile."

* * *

"Will you sing for me again?"

It was dark, and they were lying in the hammock outside, curled up against each other with Happy tucked once again under Gray's shirt. Natsu could feel the kitten purring, warm and content between them. The only sound was the fire crackling nearby, sparks popping in the night air, and the occasional cicada chirping in the woods.

"What do you want me to sing?" Gray asked, tipping his head against Natsu's as they stared up at the sky. It reminded Natsu of the first time they'd come out to the farm, back when it had been abandoned and they'd first been falling in love. They'd sat on the roof of Gray's car and told each other stories until the morning sun had burned the stars from the sky.

"Anything," Natsu said, reaching down and slipping his hand into Gray's.

Gray was quiet for a when, then eventually started to hum a melody that Natsu didn't recognize. After a moment he started to sing.

_i can feel you breathing with your hair on my skin_  
_as we lie here within the night _

Natsu cuddled closer, grabbing the blanket from the end of the hammock and pulling it up over them. The song was unfamiliar, but as Gray kept going, the words flowed through Natsu, filling him with a deep sense of contentment.

_our hands, they might age and our bodies will change_  
_but we'll still be the same as we are_

Gray's voice was soft and sweet, and it filled Natsu with the certainty that this, right here, was where he was going to spend the rest of his life. Eventually he fell asleep to the crackling of the fire, Happy's soft purring, and the gentle sound of Gray's voice.

_grow old with me, let us share what we see_  
_and the best it could be, just you and i _


End file.
